Self-locking safety-catch for hand-bags.



e. H. GENTZEL. SELF- LOCKING SAFETY CATCH FOR HAND BAGS.

' APPLICATION FILED OCT-21,1915.

mwmm. Patented Jan. 25,1916.

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6.77. Genzze/ A TTORNEVS THE COLUMBlA PLANOGRAPH ,co., WASHINGTON, D. C.

.crns'rnv HENRY GENTZEL, or 'rioia'onnn, new JERSEY, nssienon TO SPRINGMEYER,

i l rrroa rnr rnnnea 00., or noBo Kni\T 'NEw nnsEY, A CCRPORATIQN on NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Fatented Jan. 25, 191%.

Application filed October 21, 1915. Serial No. 57,049.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GUsTAv H. GENTZEL,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Self-Locking Safety- Catch for Hand-Bags, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to handbags, satchels, or the like, and has particular reference to temporary fasteners for holding the awe of a handbag shut.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a means of a simple, cheap and reliable nature adapted to prevent a surreptitious opening of a handbag by means such as would ordinarily accomplish such result on handbags equipped with fasteners as ordinarily made.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a fastener for a handbag that will render the fastening more secure than usual,

.but which will require no more effort on the part of the operator to close the bag and slightly more, if any, in the opening of the ba TVith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the jaw portion of a common form of handbag provided with my improved fastener; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the inside portion of one of the jaws, parts being in section; and Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 33 of Fig. 2, drawn 011 an enlarged scale.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, 1 show at 10 and 11 the two jaw portions of a handbag pivoted together at 12. These jaws carry respectively apair of snap balls 13 and 14: respectively. These balls are mounted upon respective jaws and are adapted to snap one past the other to serve as a temporary fastening. Considering the ball 13 as stationary, the other ball will strike against the ball 13 in the closing of the bag, and upon the application of pressure to force the movable jaw 11 snugly against the other or stationary jaw, the end or ball portion of the member 14 will snap past the ball 13. This feature alone constitutes no part ofthepresent invention, the invention including a separate fastener adjacent and working in conjunction with the snap balls.

The separate fastener above referred to comprises a catch 15 shown best in Fig. 3,

the same comprising a sort of bell crank pivoted at 16 to the jaw 10 on an axis parallel to the axis of the hinges 12. The main arm of the catch 15 rides over the upper edge of the jaw 11 when the jaws are closed and snaps over a lug or stud 17 in locking position. The other arm of the catch, indicated at 18, projects into the interior of the jaw 10 and cooperates with a spring 19 of a character suitable for holding the main portion 15 of the catch in position to cooperate with the stud 17. The main tongue portion of the catch 15 may or may not be flexible, but the spring 19 serves to insure that the proper cooperation will take place between the stud and the catch. The outer or free end of the catch 15 is bent upwardly slightly to facilitate the closing operation, and, furthermore, it projects far enough beyond the jaw 11 to enable the operator to apply her thumb beneath it simultaneously with or preliminary to the application of the thumb to the ball 13 while the forefinger of the same hand bears forwardly against the ball 14. lVith this consideration the action in the opening of the bag is substantially the same as the opening of a handbag equipped only with the ordinary snap balls.

The spring 19 may be of any suitable nature, but is shown herein as comprising a comparatively long tongue anchored at 20 beneath the flange 10 of the jaw 10 and the bag structure 21 where it lies between the flange aforesaid and the binding strip 22. The spring made as shown, therefore, takes up no perceptible room and is not conspicuous since it is not visible either from the in side or the outside of the bag. Unless a pickpocket is familiar with this particular type of fastener, an effort on his part to open the bag will not only fail but will lead to his detection. Furthermore, if he should be aware of the method of operation in the opening ofthe bag, it is not at all likely that he will succeed in his effort because of the fact that his hands would not ordinarily be in proper position to effect the opening without detection, although the party carrying the bag may readily open the same Without inconvenience or loss'of time.

I claim '1. The combination in a handbag, of a pair of jaws movable toward each other for closing, a pair of snap balls carried by the respective jaws, a spring-operated catch carried by one of the jaws and having a free end extending across the upper edge of the other jaw and beyond the same, and a stud carried by the latter mentioned jaw cooperating with the catch for locking the jaws shut, said spring-operated catchbeing releasable from the stud by the force of the thumb simultaneously with the opening of the snap balls.

2. The combination with a handba having a pair of jaws shutting toward each other and snap means carried by the respective means to hold them temporarily closed, of a bell crank spring-operated catch pivoted to one of the jaws and having the main catch portion thereof extending forwardly from the pivot over and in contact with the other jaw, the end of the catch extending beyond the latter mentioned jaw, and means carried by the latter jaw to cooperate with the main catch portion to lock the jaws closed.

GUSTAV HENRY GENTZEL.

Witnesses JOHN STELJES, BENTON E. MORRELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

